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Narrative of The Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears was the ethnic cleansing and forced relocation of American Indians, the bulk of which was Five Civilized Tribes, from their native land in the southeastern United States to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in the western United States. Choctaw tribe was the first one to be resettled in 1831. On the way Indians have suffered from a lack of shelter, disease and hunger. A lot of African-Americans together with the Indians moved to Indian territory. Most of these Afro-Americans were in slavery, married with the representatives of Indian tribes, or just on a run.

By 1830, the Five Civilized Tribes – Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole – were the autonomies in the southeastern United States. The process of their cultural transformation was getting stronger, which was begun by George Washington and Henry Knox. These tribes, especially the Cherokee and Choctaw, quickly assimilated European technological achievements and culture. By that time, Cherokee had its own school and writing; they accepted Christianity and published the newspaper Cherokee Phoenix; they even tried to adopt their own constitution, but by that time they were already under the jurisdiction of Georgia.

Legislative assemblies of Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and other Southern states had their own views on the territory of civilized Indians. President Democrat Andrew Jackson was also a supporter of eviction of Indians in order to give their land to white settlers. With his assistance, on May 26, 1830, the US Congress enacted the Indian Removal Act that involved the movement of tribes from well-equipped and rich south-east to the wild lands of the Great Plains. That was the moment when a campaign of forced resettlement of civilized Indians began.

Relocation of the Five Civilized Tribes later was called The Trail of Tears. This road ran through several states – to the west by the Mississippi River. Each of the five tribes was resettling in different ways, but all of them were moved to the territory, which now occupies Oklahoma.

Outbreaks of Choctaw were in modern Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. On September 27, 1830 Choctaw concluded an agreement with the US government, known as the Treaty on Dancing-Rabbit Creek. According to the treaty, they lost 45,000 square kilometers of the territory in Mississippi in exchange for 61,000 square kilometers in the West. The Treaty allowed staying those Choctaws, who wished to become US citizens.

A lot of free blacks resettled together with the Indians as well as slaves (accompanying their masters, Indians, or fugitives that one way or another joined the Indian tribes).

The Trail of Tears was the ethnic cleansing and forced relocation of American Indians, the bulk of which was Five Civilized Tribes, from their native land in the southeastern United States to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in the western United States. Choctaw tribe was the first one to be resettled in 1831. On the way Indians have suffered from a lack of shelter, disease and hunger.